


of lava and insects

by Take_Me_To_My_Fragile_Dreams



Series: strange curiosities [1]
Category: Shall We Date?: Obey Me!
Genre: Bugs & Insects, Fluff, Multi, Soul Bond, nerds being nerds
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-31
Updated: 2020-07-31
Packaged: 2021-03-05 21:21:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,016
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25631977
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Take_Me_To_My_Fragile_Dreams/pseuds/Take_Me_To_My_Fragile_Dreams
Summary: They glance up at Satan to find him looking just as worse off. His hair is practically grey with dust and they can’t help the burst of laughter that escapes them.“What?""We’ve finally done it. We made one of you go grey and we weren’t even trying.” They grin up at him as their fingers wipe away some of the dust on his cheek. “To think all it took was a hike."
Relationships: Briar/Thatcher, Briar/Thatcher/Satan, Satan (Shall We Date?: Obey Me!)/Original Character(s)
Series: strange curiosities [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1858054
Kudos: 2





	of lava and insects

**Author's Note:**

  * For [rebsrebsrebsrebs](https://archiveofourown.org/users/rebsrebsrebsrebs/gifts).



Briar squints through a thick cloud of steam as they pick their way through piles of rubble. Ahead of them, Satan is a muted wash of gray they fight to keep track of. Even demon sight is limited beneath the ever shifting weather of the volcanic mountains they stand on. 

They swipe at their face in an attempt to clear some of the sweat that lines their skin; in the end they only manage to smear more dust across their forehead. They’re sticky under the oppressive heat that surrounds them and far from pleased with the way their clothes stick to them. 

_This trip sucks,_ Kes declares. 

**You’re not the one on the outside.**

_You were thinking it!_

Satan glances back at them and nods towards a split in the rock ahead. It’s a tight squeeze when they try to follow after him. The rock catches at their clothes and threatens to keep them in its harsh embrace. 

They stumble out onto the other side and crash into Satan with a groan. 

“Are you alright?”

“Just imagining all the ways I’m going to demand Thatcher make up for this,” Briar says without heat. 

They glance up at Satan to find him looking just as worse off as them. His hair is practically grey with dust and they can’t help the burst of laughter that escapes them. 

“What?" 

"We’ve finally done it. We made one of you go grey and we weren’t even trying.” They grin up at him as their fingers wipe away some of the dust on his cheek. “To think all it took was a hike." 

"Scaling Mount Ignislia is hardly a hike,” he says wryly. “we’ve been at this for hours." 

"Don’t remind me.” Briar takes the reprieve from the weather as a chance to stretch some of the ache from their limbs. Clinging to the side of the mountain while wind and heat tried to launch them into the abyss below wasn’t exactly the easiest thing in the world. 

Their shoulders ache and they grimace at their dirty and cracked claws. Asmodeus was sure to give them Hell for that later. 

“We’re almost there. This cave system should lead us down into the lava pits." 

"And you’re sure I won’t burn up?" 

Briar falls into step beside him as the trail slopes downwards. 

"We’ve already tested it. Your humanity will not effect you physically.” He catches their hand to give it a gentle squeeze. “Are you worried?" 

"I just don’t want to invite Thatcher into my head only for them to witness my death." 

Briar lets out a soft sigh and swallows around their dry throat. The flask Solomon had given them is welcome, especially considering its ever-full state. 

"Nothing will happen to either of you." 

_Seconded._

Briar’s lips twitch. "Now you’ve got Kes being sappy." 

_You know what? I take it back._

They laugh, undaunted by the chill in her voice. They know better now.  
"So these scoria things are really found in lava? Thatcher said there was a legend about them." 

"An old story claims that they were once normal insects that feasted on the fallen corpse of a race of fire demons that’s long since perished. They inherited their ability to live in Mount Ignislia through the consumption." 

They’re already aware of the fact and they both know it. Briar has listened to Thatcher ramble enough to have the theories and facts about their current bug hunt memorized. 

Hearing Satan break it all down again is simply a distraction from their nerves. They’re going to be the one that has to wade into fire, after all. They can’t open Satan’s mind to Thatcher, it’s not how the bond works. 

"We’re here." 

Briar looks ahead into the darkness and finds a growing orange glow. It creeps up over the rocks and eliminates the shadows the further they walk into its reach. 

The sound of something bubbling fills their ears and with it comes the fast rise of heat and steam. Every breath in feels heavy until Briar is forced to transform out of sheer self preservation. Beside them, Satan follows suit. 

"Holy shit." 

Briar’s eyes are wide as they take in the channels of lava that stretch out before them. A deep purple rock weaves in between streams and pools like spiderwebs. It shines above the glow of what would have previously been Briar’s death. 

Satan moves to help slice their clothes away from their body when their own fingers shake. Fabric will only burn and the last thing they need is another distraction. 

He presses a kiss to their shoulder. "You’ll be fine, love. If something happens I’ll get you out." 

Briar lets out a soft breath and accepts the vial he presses into their hands; nectar from a rare plant that grows in the lava fields the scoria hibernate in.

They step up to the edge of the nearest pool and submerge themselves. It’s hot, startlingly so, as if they’d turned the water in the shower on full blast before giving their body a chance to adjust. It does not, however, burn. 

They swim to the surface with a gasp and stare up at Satan with wide eyes. 

"Holy shit.” They lift a hand and watch streams of lava slip off of their skin. “ _Holy shit,_ it worked!" 

"I told you it would.” Satan sits beside the pool and smiles at them. He glows with the caves around them; nothing less than otherworldly. “I’ll wait here." 

Of course. They’d come for a reason, after all. 

Briar swims to one of the purple arches of rock and doesn’t allow themselves to think of what’s lurking where they can’t see it. They hoist themselves up onto a smooth edge and leave their lower body submerged. 

The cork to the vial is pulled out with their teeth; immediately a sweet scent fills their nose. They pour the mixture into their hand and let it drip down into the orange pool below before they can second guess themself. 

"This better work,” they mutter before closing their eyes. 

Kes welcomes them as they recede into themselves. She’s by their side as they follow the lines of their bonds, searching for the right tether. Thatcher’s is especially bright, as always, and they follow the long line of it all the way back to where they wait in the Devildom. 

The markings that wrap around their forehead and fall down over their closed eyes light up in gold as they make contact. 

“Thatcher,” they murmur. “I’m here." 

It’s a lot like trying to fill a glass up to the very brim of its spilling point. They coax Thatcher’s sense of self out of their body and into Briar’s. 

The next time they breathe they feel too full, too contained in their own skin–

 _Briar_.

–the heaviness eases as they recede into the background. 

Their eyes open to stare down in wonder at the lava that laps at their waist. Their lips part but it is not Briar who speaks. 

"This is–you made it!" 

Briar stretches out beneath their awe like a pleased cat. 

**Did you really doubt we wouldn’t?**

_They wouldn’t turn back,_ Kes grumbles. _They’re stubborn._

"I know." 

The affection warms the cheeks of Briar’s body. There’s nowhere to hide with Thatcher’s soul pressed up against their own. They’re laid bare and it’s still far too overwhelming. 

**Don’t forget your bugs.**

Something brushes against their legs. Thatcher looks down in surprise to find the lava around them roiling. 

"Briar? Thatcher?” Satan meets their eyes across the pool. “Get further up onto the rocks. We don’t know what they’ll do." 

Briar is distantly aware of Thatcher moving their limbs but it’s with a detached sort of acknowledgement. It’s not unlike dissociating but they trust Thatcher. 

The nectar drips down their hand and smears itself onto the rocks as their body leaves the warmth of the pool. Their hair plasters itself to their back as they watch large shapes break through the thick lower layers of the pool. 

Briar is glad that Thatcher is in control when the first scoria–sccorialismn, Thatcher corrects–breaks the surface with a screech that sends goosebumps out over their skin.

It’s huge, with a hard outershell that gleams nearly iridescent in the right light. It’s easily as big as Satan, with long feathered antennae that twitch in their direction.  
Briar flinches internally when it swims over to their rock easily. It looks like a strange sort of hybrid moth–if a moth were as big as a man with glowing red eyes and lava dripping from its shell.

"It’s a male,” Thatcher whispers when the armor plating on its back shifts to give way to a set of large patterned wings.

More burst free from the pools, though the male slowly creeping up their rock is the largest. 

**Didn’t they eat demons?!**

Well, yes, in theory–

**_I’m_ a demon, Thatcher! **

They both freeze as a low clicking bounces off of the walls. It’s loud, enough for them both to feel it all the way down in their bones. It softens into a low rumble when he finds the first spill of nectar.

He doesn’t–seem aggressive. 

_We can always blast him if we need to,_ Kes points out. 

We’re not hurting him, we’re the ones that came here! 

**Technically I did,** Briar drawls. 

My point still stands. 

Thatcher’s eyes fly up to stare into one of the sccorialismn’s eyes as his proboscis flicks out to taste the nectar still on their palm. 

“Hey,” Thatcher whispers. “I’m not going to hurt you." 

A soft chitter comes from behind them as a much smaller female crawls up to inspect their guest. 

The panic Briar would normally be feeling is muted with Thatcher in control of their body. It’s a relief all its own. 

"They’re just curious. I’m sure they don’t get many visitors." They glance over at Satan and find him going through a similar inspection. 

The female at their back feels over the back of their hair. She lets out what could almost be a confused click when it reveals itself to not be lava. 

**Satan said they’re more intelligent than normal bugs, right?**

"Supposedly. They do seem to react differently than most other insects.”  
Their fingers flex as the male chases after the last drops of nectar. When he finds no more his head dips, close enough that his anntenae brush against the top of their head. 

They’re motionless under his observation. Once satisfied, he rears back with a soft cry and plunges back into the pool. The rest of them follow after, leaving Thatcher and Satan alone once more. 

“That was–" 

**Nerd,** Briar says before they can finish. 

Thatcher laughs breathlessly and swims back over to Satan. 

"Thank you,” they say, to both of them. “Really. I’m going to put everything in my journal before I forget but–I really appreciate it." 

Briar guides them back to their own body with one last pulse of affection. They feel almost deflated when they come back to the front of their body. They stretch out to settle back into their own skin before smiling tiredly at Satan. 

"Ready to head back?" 

"Yes, I’d like to shower all this dust off." 

Briar pulls on the clothes he offers and casts one last glance back at the abandoned pools. 

"Let’s get back to our resident nerd, I’m sure they’ll have questions.”

Satan chuckles as their hands find one another. “Undoubtably. You look like you enjoyed yourself too.”

“It’s hard not to appreciate the creepy crawlies when Thatcher is in your head.” They tap their temple and feel a pulse of awareness run through their body. They can almost taste the brightness of Thatcher’s enthusiasm. “…it wasn’t so bad, I guess.”

“We’ll talk you around into coming to the spider sanctuary, yet.”

Briar shudders. “Ugg, you _wish_! Get moving before I’m tempted to throw you into one of the pools!”

His laughter is soft as he increases the pace; they fight a smile. 

If Thatcher was the one doing it…

Maybe one day.

**Author's Note:**

> to see the [sccorialismn you can go here](https://apassintohell.tumblr.com/post/623334938598572032/creatures-of-the-devildom-sccorialismn)
> 
> find me on tumblr @ apassintohell


End file.
